Sean McNamara's Art Portfolio

Sean McNamara "Kobe"

Portrait, 2020

My artwork is a drawing of the one and only Kobe Bryant showing his intensity. I got the idea off of my first sketch in class and thought it would be a great way to honor him. He inspired me to work hard and never let anyone outwork you.

I used a sketch and from their I went and got a photo off of google that I used the light projector in the back of class to outline the work, next I needed outline with sharpie. I then used colored pencils to fill in, I also used a ruler for the words KOBE.

The artwork means intensity, I wanted the audience to think about Kobe's intensity that he showed throughout his career. I used the shading of the lighter gold into the darker gold to represent it was at a time when Bryant was in his older age.

It was difficult for me to shade it and find the right shades of color to use on the work, the purple ended up needing different shades combined which proved to be difficult. I think I'd take more time finding the colors if I could do it over.

This is a realistic artwork. I think the shading I used would be unique to me and the the KOBE above is something I personalized more with the coloring. I love that I was able to make it look more realistic than anything I have ever made drawing wise.

Sean McNamara, "Victory and Defeat"

Black and White, 2020

My idea is to show the glory of victory and the pain of losing, I got the idea after watching baseball, and watched some old games and found this moment that I decided I wanted to recreate it. I was inspired through my own victories and loses in sports.

First I found my photo and then I went on to outline it on a sketch then put it outlined on to my project paper. I then used shading pencils to create the product on the paper. Finding the correct shading was difficult but was able to get it right.

My artwork means success and failure, I wanted the audience to see how light it feels like in your head and body to be the hero, to hit the homerun. Then to think about the darkness in the body that happens after giving up losing moment. I made the darkness in the pitcher to be symbolic to how he was feeling in the moment.

The shading, how dark I wanted each part to be, and if I messed up then I had to just roll with it which made me change the work over time. I overcame the struggles by just rolling with whatever happened and making the best of it. I would make sure I knew exactly wanted I wanted for the shades if I could do over.

It is meant to be both realistic and surreal, obviously for the most part I wanted it to be realistic, but the addition of the darkness in the pitcher is what I felt was surreal. I think the way I shaded the players to find the shadowing put in them is what I felt I personalized the most. I love the way I was able to show the emotion of the pitcher.